With Carnival closed, O’Sullivan has only fond memories
It’s no secret that Villanova men’s track coach Marcus O’Sullivan has had a love-hate relationship with the Penn Relays Carnival. He has said so on many occasions.
O’Sullivan loves the Relays for the spectacle that it is, the largest relay event in the United States, and the competition it provides for his athletes. Yet he hates it because of the pressure the Wildcats are under every year to succeed. Even though Penn is the host, Villanova is always view as the team to beat, especially in the 4 x 800, 4 x 1,500/4 x mile and distance medley relays on both the men’s and women’s sides.
But with no Penn Relays being contested for the first time since its inception in 1895 because of the coronavirus pandemic, O’Sullivan is rethinking that viewpoint during what would have been Relays week.
“I think I’m going to have a fuller appreciation, and learn to respect and love it more when we come back,” O’Sullivan said. “I think I disliked it too much from the anxiety standpoint. It’s time I made peace with that part of it and move on and embrace what it can generously give to young people. It’s a feeling of magic and it’s a feeling of this huge, enormous world stage in track and field. It’s surpassed by only a few things, Olympics, major championships, major world events.
“The Penn Relays is such a special place in the minds of youth. And as they grow older they have such a fondness for the memories. They want to talk about it forever.”
Absence makes the heart grow fonder and O’Sullivan’s change of heart can be attributed to several Zoom meetings he has held with former teammates and athletes he’s coached to fill the void left by the cancellation of the Penn Relays.
O’Sullivan had a Zoom meeting with Villanova’s 1984 4 x mile relay team, which he anchored to the Championship of America that year. He also had another meeting with the 2015 4 x mile championship team that stunned Oregon in the Championship of America.
Those video gatherings opened his eyes.
“They were telling me things that I never knew,” O’Sullivan said. “You realize that everyone has a different recollection, a different viewpoint, something you did not know about at that time and never really talked about and so it was very interesting to hear the stories from their perspectives. By telling these stories it’s a way to keep the enthusiasm and spirit of the Relays alive.”
Reminiscing is one of the ways people in the track community this week are trying to keep the spirit of the Relays alive. There’s a #PennRelaysWeek challenge on Twitter where coaches, athletes and fans are asked to post of video of what they miss about the event.
Penn has partnered with Gen. G Esports and the United States Marine Corps to present a Digital Penn Relays on Friday that will be broadcast on Twitch, a live streaming video service, from noon to 5 p.m. Athletes will compete on custom built Minecraft courses around Franklin Field that include hurdles, water lava and an ice race course with boats.
“I’ll watch the best I can, but I don’t know what it is I’ll be watching,” said Dave Johnson, the director of the Penn Relays.
For most athletes, though, nothing can replace the exhilaration of competing at the Penn Relays and the lifelong memories that competition creates.
“The Penn Relays were everything,” said Strath Haven’s Grace Forbes, the 2019 Daily Times Girls Track Athlete of the Year who is completing her freshman year at Rice. “(Strath Haven coach Bill) Coren absolutely adored the Penn Relays, so we wanted to make it the best race possible. Last year was just magical. I got to race against Katelyn Tuohy (North Rockland HS, N.Y.) and people like that. It was so fun.”
Forbes anchored the Panthers to a fifth-place finish in the DMR last year and set the county record of 11:51.26 in the process. Her younger sister Maggie, a junior at Strath Haven, ran the leadoff leg.
“There’s nothing like the Penn Relays,” Maggie Forbes said. “The stadium is packed. It’s a much bigger event, so the pressure is on to do well. It’s just a good time. And breaking the county record in the DMR is something that I’ll always remember.”
Upper Darby All-Delco Kayla Thorpe was looking forward to competing at Penn for the second straight year. She finished 14th in the shot put last season.
“To be able to see my team run in front of thousands of people and me being able to throw there for the first time last year was amazing,” Thorpe said. “It was a good feeling because everybody knows what Penn Relays is, so it’s an honor just to compete there.”
Those memories are sustaining people like O’Sullivan, Johnson, the Forbes sisters and Thorpe until they can be back at Penn again next year.
“I try to see the silver lining in everything,” O’Sullivan said. “I just think it’s going to help us connect even more when all of this is done and we come out of this era of history in terms of the virus. I think we’ll be better for it.”